We have witnessed today a shameful chapter in our nation’s otherwise (mostly) glorious story.
Rioters stormed Capitol Hill, and traipsed into the Senate chamber to disrupt what Congress was doing today. Congress was gathered to ratify an Electoral College tally that named Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
The rioters, egged on by Donald Trump – the guy Biden beat in the 2020 presidential election – decided to take matters into their own hands.
Washington, D.C., went into lock down. The Capitol Building was evacuated. Donald Trump’s insistence that the election was “stolen” from him has led to this sorry, sad, disgraceful chapter.
What’s more, and this is tough to say, they also were egged on by the Sedition Caucus of the congressional Republican Party that sought to challenge the Electoral College votes certifying Biden’s election. I now will mention to readers of this blog that two of the leading seditionists happen to be Texans: One of them is U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler, the other is Sen. Ted Cruz. These individuals, along with the other Texans and members of Congress from elsewhere, need to be excoriated and shamed for their disgraceful behavior.
They called for the protest because of alleged “voter fraud” in the election. There was none. Their protest only helped ignite the fire that erupted in the nation’s capital city and inside the nation’s Capitol Building.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell implored his GOP colleagues to stand down. They didn’t do it. They commenced their protest, only to be drowned out by the chaos that erupted outside the chamber and which spilled into the very heart of our national government.
I don’t know about you, but I am frightened beyond measure over what might lie ahead in the immediate term.
The cabal of Texans who joined the insurrectionists in seeking to contest a legal, free and fair election have earned every bit of the shame that should fall on them.
John Kanelis, former editorial page editor for the Amarillo Globe-News and the Beaumont Enterprise, is also a former blogger for Panhandle PBS in Amarillo. He is now retired, but still writing. Kanelis can be contacted via Twitter @jkanelis, on Facebook, or his blog, www.highplainsblogger.com.Kanelis' blog for KETR, "Piece of Mind," presents his views, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of KETR, its staff, or its members.
Kanelis lives in Princeton with his wife, Kathy.
